If you suffer with sensitive skin or have been a part of the green beauty world for a while, you would have without a doubt heard of or tried Pai Skincare. Pai recognises the frustrations that come with finding the best solution for your skin worries and they have come up with a range to help you take back control. We have recently caught up with founder Sarah Brown to find out how she overcomes her skin worries and what to do if you are frustrated with yours! How did your journey with Pai Skincare begin? I developed a condition called Chronic Urticariain in my mid-twenties and became unable to tolerate any of the beauty products I’d used for years. After years of popping pills and trawling the beauty market (in vain!) for a solution, I started Pai with the aim of helping others in the same skin rut. I quit my job, retrained and started creating my own products in a converted garage. What has been the most rewarding and challenging part of setting up and running Pai? The most rewarding part has been our amazing customer feedback. When I created Pai, I wanted it to be more than just a product range but a complete support network. We do everything we can to hold customers’ hands on their journey back to skin balance. When customers take the time to send us messages about how we’ve helped, it makes it all worthwhile. Of course it’s always amazing to hold a new product in your hand after years of research and formulation, too. Knowing you’ve created something from nothing and brought the seed of an idea to life is a very satisfying feeling! As for the most challenging part, there were big hurdles to overcome; everything from access to finance, to scaling up our manufacturing. There are daily hurdles still but it continues to be a huge adventure, which I love. Why is it important to buy organic beauty? We believe organic ingredients are best for sensitive skin. Simple as that. Synthetics, harsh preservatives, detergents and artificial fragrances are all big no-no’s for difficult skin and the majority are not permitted under the Soil Association's certification. It’s also an easy way to support organic farming, which promotes responsible farming methods and protects wildlife populations. What makes Pai different to other skincare ranges on the market? At Pai, we take our organic certification one step further and don’t include anything that could upset, irritate or imbalance the skin, whatever the cost. We’re also very realistic about what our products can do. We don’t make wild claims or use confusing jargon and always take a wider health and lifestyle approach to our advice. What advice would you give someone who is frustrated with their sensitive skin? Try not to let it stress you out! Our skin is incredibly attuned to our emotions and cortisol, the stress hormone, increases sebum production and inflames the skin. Keeping a product and food diary was incredibly helpful when trying to get to the bottom of my own skin triggers. Make a note of how your skin looks and feels each day, the products you used, what you ate and any other potential factors such as stress or sleep. After a while you will see patterns emerge that can help you identify potential causes of irritation or imbalance and help you take back control of your skin! Avoiding known irritants such as alcohol, detergents (e.g. sulphates) and artificial fragrances is also useful for long-term skin balance and health. Where do you find inspiration from? Usually from obscure day-to-day things or musings. Great ideas can often flow off the back of terrible mistakes too! What’s next for Pai Skincare? We’ve just launched Petit Pai, a new sub-range for young children, which we’re so proud of. It’s been a long time in the works (I’ve had two babies since we first came up with the idea!) but it shows how much thought, heart and soul we put into the product development process. We’re also hard at work putting the finishing touches to our Christmas gift collection, which is going to be extra special. For great products with amazing ingredients for sensitive skin, shop here for: Pai Skincare. What's your favourite Pai product? Let us know on Twitter @Naturisimo_UK.
